Ok, hear me out, this is, as best as I can tell a completely original idea. What if we fundamentally reworked how we exchanged goods in COW?
The way my system would work is that we would get a new units, the truck. The truck would have the ability to carry goods or money. It can be produced by industrial complex 1. It would be relatively fast, with low atk and def. It would be one of the first units you unlock in the game, and could be upgraded for better speed, increased carrying capacity, and higher atk and def. It would cross the sea in the same manner as any other ground unit. It would be able to pass through any nation with a diplomatic status of peace and is blind, so it can't be used to gather intel.
The way trading would work, is that the amount of goods you could trade, would be limited by the number of available trucks you have built. A truck that contains goods is not counted as available. Once a trade is agreed upon available trucks are sent from the two parties' capitols, the goods would be exchanged when a truck reached the other nation's capitol. Trucks can be attacked, and their goods can be seized. Trade deals can be broken at any time. Piracy is a viable way to make money. Controlling the fastest sea and land routes is a major political advantage. You know who you are trading with. The main draw back to this system is that goods would take days to change hands. But in a game where the average match can last several months, it's not a major draw back.
MOSTLY what this system does is sacrifice some of the war-making value this game has, and concentrate more on the political aspects. I really think that the developers ignore a lot of the political possibilities this multiplayer RTS game has.
PLEASE MAKE TRUCKS HAPPEN!
The way my system would work is that we would get a new units, the truck. The truck would have the ability to carry goods or money. It can be produced by industrial complex 1. It would be relatively fast, with low atk and def. It would be one of the first units you unlock in the game, and could be upgraded for better speed, increased carrying capacity, and higher atk and def. It would cross the sea in the same manner as any other ground unit. It would be able to pass through any nation with a diplomatic status of peace and is blind, so it can't be used to gather intel.
The way trading would work, is that the amount of goods you could trade, would be limited by the number of available trucks you have built. A truck that contains goods is not counted as available. Once a trade is agreed upon available trucks are sent from the two parties' capitols, the goods would be exchanged when a truck reached the other nation's capitol. Trucks can be attacked, and their goods can be seized. Trade deals can be broken at any time. Piracy is a viable way to make money. Controlling the fastest sea and land routes is a major political advantage. You know who you are trading with. The main draw back to this system is that goods would take days to change hands. But in a game where the average match can last several months, it's not a major draw back.
MOSTLY what this system does is sacrifice some of the war-making value this game has, and concentrate more on the political aspects. I really think that the developers ignore a lot of the political possibilities this multiplayer RTS game has.
PLEASE MAKE TRUCKS HAPPEN!